January 21 – Integrity and appreciation

Dear Friends,

Christina Feldman outlines several foundations of joy. We’ll look at two of them today – integrity and appreciation.

Integrity

What do we mean by integrity? Christina says, “Integrity is not a set of rules laden with value judgments of right and wrong, good and bad. The Buddha described integrity as thoughts, words, and acts rooted in compassion.” (page 94)

James Baraz also describes this in his book Awakening Joy: 10 Steps to Happiness:

Reframing Good and Bad

Living with integrity is a practical strategy for awakening joy. It’s also considered a “skillful” one, because it makes our lives work better. In Buddhist teachings, thoughts and actions are not categorized as good or bad but rather as “skillful” and “unskillful.”

* To be skillful means to think and act in ways motivated by the desire to enhance the well-being of yourself and others.

* To be unskillful means to intentionally think or act in ways that harm you or others.

Awakening Joy: 10 Steps to Happiness, page 123

Quite often, we don’t notice when we engage in skillful acts. If we bring more attention to the many ways we already are practicing with integrity, we can strengthen that pathway. James suggests an exercise:

Remembering the Gladness of the Wholesome

Think of a time when you reached out and were kind to someone. Let yourself recall the pleasure you felt in your mind and body as you saw how happy they were. Or remember a time when you made a choice to be genuinely open and truthful. Even if it was hard to do, maybe you recall a sense of relief, clarity, and connection? Take these positive feelings in and let them motivate you to continue to choose skillful actions.

Awakening Joy, page 127

Appreciation

When discussing appreciation, Christina digs into perception – that quality of mind that function that allows us to know the world. It’s an important function, but we can get too accustomed to what we perceive that we forget to really notice and appreciate what is right there. The simple joy of a child discovering something new vanishes when we look with tired eyes.

Christina says, “Appreciating what is rather than abiding in what was makes room for joy and wonder. This is no simple task; it requires a profound commitment to being awake in all the moments of our life.” (page 98)

The practice that Christina suggests to reawaken appreciation is to “Intentionally bring mindfulness to a simple journey you make regularly: the walk to work, the trip to do errands, the time spent on a train. Commit yourself to stillness and to being wholeheartedly present. … Allow yourself to be touched and gladdened by the simple moments of loveliness, part of each of our days.” (page 99)

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I invite you to share what you discovered with either or both of these two exercises – remembering the gladness of the wholesome, or finding appreciation in a simple journey. Feel free to add a comment on the blog, or send me an email!

Warm wishes,
Andrea